Video cassette recorders, particularly the VHS recorders, have become very popular in recent years with millions of units now in household use. Video cassette recorders, or VCR's, are fairly complicated pieces of equipment with several sensitive components, such as the audio, video and erase heads. As some people realize, the components must be cleaned on a regular basis in order to avoid performance degradation, either in the recording mode of the playback mode, and to avoid excessive wear on the components as may result from a buildup of contaminants thereon. Unfortunately, it is either quite difficult or beyond the ability of the average VCR owner to gain direct access to the various components of a VCR which need to be cleaned, in particular the heads. Consequently, cleaning is typically accomplished with a VCR tape cassette carrying a cleaning tape (as opposed to a magnetic recording tape) which when "played" is thread around and passes over the various components of the system, whereby they are cleaned. Such cleaning tapes are typically utilized in conjunction with a cleaning fluid which may be applied to the tape prior to its insertion into the VCR.
While "manual" cleaning, i.e. the use of a cleaning tape cassette and the manual application of a cleaning fluid to the cleaning tape, provides satisfactory cleaning if properly performed, there are several potential drawbacks. For one, the cleaning fluids which are typically utilized are volatile, such that they evaporate quickly once applied to the tape. Thus, the amount of cleaning fluid which actually reaches the components of the VCR via the tape depends upon the amount of time between application of the fluid to the cleaning tape and the time at which the tape is drawn into contact with the components (either during threading or "play mode"). Because this delay is completely dependent on the operator, there is no guarantee that the optimum amount of fluid will reach the components. Similarly, the manual application of cleaning fluid to the cleaning tape can also result in either too much or too little fluid being applied. And, there is a tendency to leave the cleaning tape winding through the VCR longer than is required, potentially causing excessive head wear. Finally, the very inconvenience of having to maintain the cleaning fluid on hand and in an accessible location and the "technical" nature of the cleaning procedure both tend to discourage proper routine cleaning maintenance. Accordingly, there is a need for a self-contained, "automatic" cleaning cassette which eliminates or ameliorates the drawbacks to manual cleaning procedures.